The gang reads Pony's theme
by Mrs. Lowe
Summary: the title kinda says it all... First fanfiction, please show me your hate, that way I can get better! HOW THE HECK DO IUPLOAD MY FIRST REAL CHAPTER!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

It was a very cold winter day in Tulsa Oklahoma, and the gang that consisted of five greasers. The power had gone out earlier that day due to the snow falling. It has been about two months since the deaths of their friends, Ponyboy still hadn't been the same, he was smaller still and didn't talk much, although he was indeed trying. He had turned in his semester theme paper, and received an A on it. That's all Darry and Sodapop knew.

(Sodapop's POV)

I watched as Pony went into our bedroom to get something, then ran to his backpack to see if he had anything exciting worth snooping around, I came across a huge bundle of papers all attached. Then I realized it was his theme that he just got back this week.. "Hey Dar.. Come here man.." I whispered loudly, Darry came over and I showed him he read the title aloud "The Outsiders" Two-bit being the snoop he is, over heard us and came in. "What's this I hear? Something to do? Well whatever it is, it must be more exciting then this!" He cheered. Ponyboy then came out and I thought 'O god..'

(Pony's POV)

That's MY essay they have! I shouted, not meaning to shout, "NO! Stop! Put that down!" I ran to Soda and tried to grab it from him, but he wouldn't have it. Darry then grabbed it and said "Guys, wanna read this? Seems very _interesting"_ he said while flipping through the pages. 'But- BUT NO!" it is mine, and they do not have my 'Ok' to read it! I ran to my room and locked the door.

(3rd person POV)

The remaining of the gang sat down, "I don't see why we gotta read this!" Steve complained "'Cause we need to know this." Everyone sat on the couch or in Darry's case his arm chair, except for Pony who was still locked in the room. "So… Who wants to start reading?" asked Steve "I will!" replied a _very_ enthusiastic Soda, he took the book from his best buddy's hands and started reading..

-Abigail(:


	2. Chapter 3

(Soda reading)

**"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkest of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home."**

"stupid.." Darry muttered

"**I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman- he looks tough I don't- **

" Steve laughed while saying "You got that right!" earning a glare from Darry.

**"But I guess my own looks aren't so bad. I have light-brown, almost red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, I hate most guys with green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have."**

While Steve and Two-bit were laughing their asses off, Darry and Soda shared a look of confusion, they had no idea that their little brother thought of his looks. "knock it off you too, now pony ain't ever gonna want to come out of his room, with you too laughing like that, now is he?" They both smartly shut up.

**"My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in the back and long in the front and sides, but I am a greaser and most of my neighborhood rarely bothers to get a haircut. Besides I look better with long hair.**

**I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway"**

**"**O he likes to walk! Of course the stupid kid likes to walk!" Steve said

**"For no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can get into them and live them with the actors. When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way. I mean my second oldest brother, Soda, who is sixteen-going-on-seventeen, never cracks a book at all"**

Soda just nodded his head, "I don't see how he can just sit there for so long.." Darry just chuckled and patted his brothers knee, "it's alright Pepsi, we don't expect you too." "my god! This is boring! Can we please do something else!?" Steve cried out. "ay shut up and let soda read!" this surprisingly came from Two-Bit, who was quite in to the story. When all of a sudden, a head poked out of Soda's and Pony's room, everyone turned towards and it quickly went back in.

Soda walked up to the door and knocked "Ay Pony? Wanna join us buddy?" Pony quietly said "No ya'll are gonna laugh and make fun of me…" Now Steve walked up and yelled "Pony! Just get your ass in here now! I want to get this done with!" Pony slowly walked out, before he could even say 'hi' to everyone, Darry had his hand on Pony's shirt, pulling him on the chair right next to him.

**"And my oldest brother, Darrel, who we call Darry, works too long and hard to be interested in a story or drawing a picture, so I'm not like them."**

Pony just looked away, as Darry looked at him, "I'm so Pone, I'll try and watch a sunset with you later, okay?" Pony only nodded in respone.

**"And nobody in our gang digs movies and books the way I do-" ** "Hell no" Steve muttered **"For a while, I thought I was the only person in the world that did. So I loned it. **

**Soda tries to understand, at least, which is more than Darry does. But then, Soda is different from anybody; he understand everything, almost. Like he's never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is, or treating me as if I was six instead of fourteen. I love Soda more then I've loved anyone, even mom and dad. He's always happy-go-lucky and grinning, while Darry's hard and firm and rarely grins at all. But then, Darry's gone through a lot in his twenty years, grown up too fast. Sodapop'll never grow up at all. I don't know which way's the best. I'll find out one of these days.**

"O no Pony! You _will_ be growing! You're getting out of Tulsa, you hear me?" This came from Soda

While Soda was smiling proud of what his little brother said about him, but at the same time he felt bad for Darry.. Pony noticed this too, and went and sat on Darry's lap and smiled

**Anyway, I went on walking home, thinking about the movie, and then suddenly wishing I had some company. **

Actual growls could be heard from the whole gang, Darry held Pony tighter in his arms as someone was going to take him.

**Greasers can't walk alone too much or they'll get jumped, or someone will come by and scream "Greaser!" at them, which doesn't make you feel too hot, if you know what I mean. We get jumped by the Socs. I'm not sure how you spell it, but it's the abbreviation for the Socials, the jet set, the West-side rich kids. It's like the term "greaser," which is used to class all us boys on the East Side.**

"Kid.. When you're bout to get jumped.. Don't think about how to spell Socs.. Stupid.." Steve said as he smacked the back of Pony's head. "Ow! Watch it Steve!" yelled Pony

**We're poorer than the Socs and the middle class. I reckon we're wilder, too. Not like the Socs, who jump greasers and wreck houses and throw beer blasts for kicks, and get editorials in the paper for being a public disgrace one day and an asset to society the next. Greasers are almost like hoods; we steal things and drive old souped-up cars and hold up gas stations and have a gang fight once in a while. I don't mean I do things like that.**

"Excuse me? You do what?" Darry was boiling with anger

** Darry would kill me if I got into trouble with the police.**

"smart answer.." Darry mumbled still a little mad

** Since Mom and Dad were killed in an auto wreck, the three of us get to stay together only as long as we behave. So Soda and I stay out of trouble as much as we can, and we're careful not to get caught when we can't. I only mean that most greasers do things like that, just like we wear our hair long and dress in blue jeans and T-shirts, or leave our shirttails out and wear leather jackets and tennis shoes or boots. I'm not saying that either Socs or greasers are better; that's just the way things are.**

The whole room, shouted "GREASERS! WOOHOO!" all hyped up and high fiving

**I could have waited to go to the movies until Darry or Sodapop got off work. They would have gone with me, or driven me there, or walked along, although Soda just can't sit still long enough to enjoy a movie and they bore Darry to death.** **Darry thinks his life is enough without inspecting other people's**

"Pony, it doesn't matter.. _Any_ of us will go, we also like you alive, ya know kid.." Soda said with his crazy grin, Pony couldn't help but grin back. "Thanks Soda" Pony said playfully rolling his eyes. "Hey! And they don't bore me to _death_ I just don't need to see other people's problems when I got enough as my own" Darry Said "Well maybe if you went to one with me, you might loosen up Dar, just try it please?" Pony said hugging his brother.

** Or I could have gotten one of the gang to come along, one of the four boys Darry and Soda and I have grown up with and consider family. We're almost as close as brothers; when you grow up in a tight-knit neighborhood like ours you get to know each other real well. If I had thought about it, I could have called Darry and he would have come by on his way home and picked me up, or Two-Bit Mathews- one of our gang-** Two-Bit perked up at the mention of his name, he was excited to see what the Kid thought of him. **would have come to get me in his car if I had asked him, but sometimes I just don't use my head. It drives my brother Darry nuts when I do stuff like that, 'cause I'm supposed to be smart; I make good grades and have a high IQ and everything, but I don't use my head. Besides, I like walking.**

**I about decided I didn't like it so much, though, when I spotted that red Corvair trailing me. I was almost two blocks from home then, so I started walking a little faster. I had never been jumped, but I had seen Johnny after four Socs got hold of him, and it wasn't pretty. Johnny was scared of his own shadow after that. Johnny was sixteen then.**

Darry just held his _baby_ tighter, "Who the hell are they Pony?!" everyone yelled. Ponyboy just shrugged "It doesn't matter now. It's over and pointless to talk about." Soda then began to read once more

**I knew it wasn't any use though- the fast walking, I mean- even before the Corvair pulled up beside me and five Socs got out. I got pretty scared- I'm kind of small for fourteen even though I have a good build, and those guys were bigger than me. I automatically hitched my thumbs in my jeans and slouched, wondering if I could get away if I made a break for it.**

**"**Yeah Kid, nice way to uphold to the Greaser name!" Steve snorted

** I remembered Johnny- his face all cut up and bruised, and I remembered how he had cried when we found him, half-conscious, in the comer lot. Johnny had it awful rough at home- it took a lot to make him cry.**

Pony's eyes started to get a little blurry at the mention of his dead friend. "Pony? You okay buddy?" Darry said while laying his little brothers head on him. "Its Okay Pony, you can cry.." Two-bit said

**I was sweating something fierce, although I was cold. I could feel my palms getting clammy and the perspiration running down my back. I get like that when I'm real scared. I glanced around for a pop bottle or a stick or something- Steve Randle, Soda's best buddy, had once held off four guys with a busted pop bottle-**

Steve smiled proudly of his great strength, Soda rolled his eyes playfully at his best buddy.

** but there was nothing. So I stood there like a bump on a log while they surrounded me. I don't use my head. They walked around slowly, silently, smiling.**

**"Hey, grease," one said in an over-friendly voice. "We're gonna do you a favor, greaser. We're gonna cut all that long greasy hair off."**

**"**YOU KEEP YOU'RE HANDS OFF MY BROTHER!" Soda and Darry yelled at the book together "Guys.. I'm ok.. See? Just relax.." "Damnit Pony! I want some names, _now_!" Two-bit almost yelled. "Fine! It was Greg and his group.. But its over, Two-bit!"

**He had on a madras shirt. I can still see it. Blue madras. One of them laughed, then cussed me out in a low voice. I couldn't think of anything to say. There just isn't a whole lot you can say while waiting to get mugged, so I kept my mouth shut.**

**"Need a haircut, greaser?" The medium-sized blond pulled a knife out of his back pocket and flipped the blade open.**

The tension was rising in the room, they all knew he was fine, he was sitting right in front of them, but the fact that the Socs would hurt a kid! Even Steve was pretty mad at this, 'The kid sure don't use his head much..' Steve thought

**I finally thought of something to say. "No." I was backing up, away from that knife. Of course I backed right into one of them. They had me down in a second. They had my arms and legs pinned down and one of them was sitting on my chest with his knees on my elbows, and if you don't think that hurts, you're crazy.**

"FIGHT BACK!" Two-bit and Soda yelled

** I could smell English Leather shaving lotion and stale tobacco, and I wondered foolishly if I would suffocate before they did anything. I was scared so bad I was wishing I would.**

The room fell silent, you would've been able to hear a pin drop, Pony was now covering his ears, just in plain fear of this experience. Darry held him tight and was rubbing his back, Soda felt like killing 'em Socs, for doing that to _his_ baby brother! Two-bit and Steve felt the same way.. The kid is only fourteen!

** I fought to get loose, and almost did for a second; then they tightened up on me and the one on my chest slugged me a couple of times. So I lay still, swearing at them between gasps. A blade was held against my throat.**

**"How'd you like that haircut to begin just below the chin?"**

**It occurred to me then that they could kill me. I went wild. I started screaming for Soda, Darry, anyone. Someone put his hand over my mouth, and I bit it as hard as I could, tasting the blood running through my teeth. I heard a muttered curse and got slugged again, and they were stuffing a handkerchief in my mouth. One of them kept saying, "Shut him up, for Pete's sake, shut him up!"**

"NO! Keep screaming Pony! Keep screaming!" the gang yelled

**Then there were shouts and the pounding of feet, and the Socs jumped up and left me lying there, gasping. I lay there and wondered what in the world was happening- people were jumping over me and running by me and I was too dazed to figure it out. Then someone had me under the armpits and was hauling me to my feet. It was Darry.**

**"Are you all right, Ponyboy?"**

**He was shaking me and I wished he'd stop. I was dizzy enough anyway. I could tell it was Darry though- partly because of the voice and partly because Darry's always rough with me without meaning to be.**

"I am not!" Darry protested, nobody in the room made eye contact.

**"I'm okay. Quit shaking me, Darry, I'm okay."**

**He stopped instantly. "I'm sorry." He wasn't really.**

**"**I've changed! Right?! I'm better!" Ponyboy slowly got up from his brothers lap "calm don Darry.. You've been much better" Everyone quickly nodded their heads.

** Darry isn't ever sorry for anything he does. It seems funny to me that he should look just exactly like my father and act exactly the opposite from him. My father was only forty when he died and he looked twenty-five and a lot of people thought Darry and Dad were brothers instead of father and son. But they only looked alike- my father was never rough with anyone without meaning to be.**

Pony just looked down, he knew what was written, its only been two months.. 'Dar's gonna hate me after this…' Pony thought to himself. "Hey Pone, don't beat yourself up kid.. We know things are different now, its okay." Two-bit said with a small smile forming on his face. Darry nodded "Yeah Pony, we're good little brother, right?" "Yeah, of course big brother!" Pony said laughing, making the whole room laugh, and relieve some of the tension. "Okay okay continue readin now Soda, we ain't got all night!" Steve said smacking his best buddy.

**Darry is six-feet-two, and broad-shouldered and muscular. He has dark-brown hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back- just like Dad's- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice. They've got a determined set to them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty- tough, cool, and smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren't so cold. He doesn't understand anything that is not plain hard fact. But he uses his head.**

**"**I'll take that as a compliment little buddy.. So thanks I guess..?" Darry said with confusion, but he _was_ hurt by how low his brother thought of him. "Darry, can we talk after this chapter..? Please.." "Of course we can pone. I would be happy to."

**I sat down again, rubbing my cheek where I'd been slugged the most.**

**Darry jammed his fists in his pockets. "They didn't hurt you too bad, did they?"**

**They did. I was smarting and aching and my chest was sore and I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I wanted to start bawling, but you just don't say that to Darry.**

**"**WHO THE HELL TOLD HIM THAT?!" Darry yelled clutching Pony tighter in his arms. "Pony you can cry in front of me honey… you know that right..?" "yeah Darry I do." "good, now I will repeat it again, WHO TOLD HIM THIS?!" "Could be Tim.." Soda spoke up finally. "That son-of-a-" Two-bit started to speak, but was stopped by Darry "Ay! Pony's in the room!" Pony thought 'god, I hate how he treats me like a six year old! I wish he would stop!'

**"I'm okay."**

**Sodapop came loping back. By then I had figured that all the noise I had heard was the gang coming to rescue me. He dropped down beside me, examining my head.**

**"You got cut up a little, huh, Ponyboy?"**

**I only looked at him blankly. "I did?"**

**He pulled out a handkerchief, wet the end of it with his tongue, and pressed it gently against the side of my head. "You're bleedin' like a stuck pig."**

**"I am?"**

**"Look!" He showed me the handkerchief, reddened as if by magic. "Did they pull a blade on you?"**

"A little slow there huh pony?" steve laughed out. Darry glared at him with eyes saying _I dare you to say something else _''shut it steve!" Darry just pulled Pony tighter, if that was even possible! The room was filled to the top with tension, Steve wouldn't admit it but he was worried about the kid too.

**I remembered the voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" The blade must have slipped while he was trying to shut me up. "Yeah."**

**Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know. Not like Darry- Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the **

"Couldn't make your big brother sound tougher?" Soda laughed, while ruffling his little brothers hair. Pony knew it was only a joke, but he worked hard on this theme and he thought he gave everyone a good description! "Soda, I worked hard on this, _please_ don't say that about this theme. If it was up to me, we wouldn't be reading it, so I want **no** rude comments, you hear me?" That was a lot for Pony to say at once, the gang was taken back, and just nodded their heads in response.

**same time. He's got dark-gold hair that he combs back- long and silky and straight- and in the summer the sun bleaches it to a shining wheat gold. His eyes are dark brown- lively, dancing, recklessly laughing eyes that can be gentle and sympathetic one moment and blazing with anger the next. He has Dad's eyes, but Soda is one of a kind. He can get drunk in a drag race or dancing without ever getting near alcohol. In our neighborhood it's rare to find a kid who doesn't drink once in a while. But Soda never touches a drop- he doesn't need to. He gets drunk on just plain living. And he understands everybody.**

Soda just smiled at what he just read about himself, 'WOW! My little brother sure does look up to me!' Sodapop thought to himself.

**He looked at me more closely. I looked away hurriedly, because, if you want to know the truth, I was starting to bawl. I knew I was as white as I felt and I was shaking like a leaf.**

**Soda just put his hand on my shoulder. "Easy, Ponyboy. They ain't gonna hurt you no more."**

"And I mean that kiddo. No more. I promise." Soda said, Pony just nodded

**"I know," I said, but the ground began to blur and I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. I brushed them away impatiently. "I'm just a little spooked, that's all." I drew a quivering breath and quit crying. You just don't cry in front of Darry. Not unless you're hurt like Johnny had been that day we found him in the vacant lot. Compared to Johnny I wasn't hurt at all.**

"Damnit! Yes. Yes you can! I ain't made of stone, ya know!" "We know Darry." Steve replied calmly.

**Soda rubbed my hair. "You're an okay kid, Pony."**

**I had to grin at him- Soda can make you grin no matter what. I guess it's because he's always grinning so much himself. "You're crazy, Soda, out of your mind."**

**Darry looked as if he'd like to knock our heads together. "You're both nuts."**

**Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit. "It seems to run in this family."**

**"**HEY! There is only one Two-bit! Don't copy my stuff!" Two-bit said laughing popping the collar of his jacket. This made the gang laugh, Two-bit was always ready with jokes.

**Darry stared at him for a second, then cracked a grin. Sodapop isn't afraid of him like everyone else and enjoys teasing him. I'd just as soon tease a full-grown grizzly; but for some reason, Darry seems to like being teased by Soda.**

The room burst into laughter with "Woohoos!" passen around and Darry slightly embarrassed.

**Our gang had chased the Socs to their car and heaved rocks at them. They came running toward us now- four lean, hard guys. They were all as tough as nails and looked it. l had grown up with them, and they accepted me, even though I was younger, because I was Darry and Soda's kid brother and I kept my mouth shut good. **

**Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was tacky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school. Steve's specialty was cars. He could lift a hubcap quicker and more quietly than anyone in the neighborhood, but he also knew cars upside-down and backward, and he could drive anything on wheels. He and Soda worked at the same gas station- Steve part time and Soda full time- and their station got more customers than any other in town. Whether that was because Steve was so good with cars or because Soda attracted girls like honey draws flies, I couldn't tell you. I liked Steve only because he was Soda's best friend. He didn't like me- he thought I was a tag-along and a kid; Soda always took me with them when they went places if they weren't taking girls, and that bugged Steve. It wasn't my fault; Soda always asked me; I didn't ask him. Soda doesn't think I'm a kid.**

"Uh. Excuse me?" Soda almost yelled. How could his baby brother and his best friend NOT like each other?! "Well… Ya see Soda… Buddy… Me and Ponyboy here just don't see eye to eye when it comes to him tagging along-" he was cut off by Soda "he ain't a tag-a-long!" "Soda, its fine. Its just steve." Pony's voice came through from Darry's strong embrace. "We _will_ be talking later you two.." Soda said as he presumed reading.

**Two-Bit Mathews was the oldest of the gang and the wisecracker of the bunch. He was about six feet tall, stocky in build, and very proud of his long rusty-colored sideburns. He had gray eyes and a wide grin, and he couldn't stop making funny remarks to save his life. You couldn't shut up that guy; he always had to get his two-bits worth in. Hence his name. Even his teachers forgot his real name was Keith,**

"'ay! We don't say that name here buddy!"

** and we hardly remembered he had one. Life was one big joke to Two-Bit. He was famous for shoplifting and his black-handled switchblade (which he couldn't have acquired without his first talent),**

Two-bit sat up proudly of his "talents" he was wondering what else the kid would say about him.

** and he was always smarting off to the cops. He really couldn't help it. Everything he said was so irresistibly funny that he just had to let the police in on it to brighten up their dull lives. (That's the way he explained it to me.) He liked fights, blondes, and for some unfathomable reason, school. He was still a junior at eighteen and a half and he never learned anything. He just went for kicks. I liked him real well because he kept us laughing at ourselves as well as at other things. He reminded me of Will Rogers- maybe it was the grin.**

"Yeah! Now I see it too!" Everyone said as they looked at a grinning proud Two-bit

**If I had to pick the real character of the gang, it would be Dallas Winston- Dally. I used to like to draw his picture when he was in a dangerous mood, for then I could get his personality down in a few lines. He had an elfish face, with high cheekbones and a pointed chin, small, sharp animal teeth, and ears like a lynx. His hair was almost white it was so blond, and he didn't like haircuts, or hair oil either, so it fell over his forehead in wisps and kicked out in the back in tufts and curled behind his ears and along the nape of his neck. His eyes were blue, blazing ice, cold with a hatred of the whole world. Dally had spent three years on the wild side of New York and had been arrested at the age of ten. He was tougher than the rest of us- tougher, colder, meaner. The shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood wasn't present in Dally. He was as wild as the boys in the downtown outfits, like Tim Shepard's gang.**

The room fell silent as Dally was mentioned, Ponyboy put his head down, remembering that night, Johnny dying.. Dally shot… getting a concussion. "Its okay Ponyboy, it'll all be okay.." Darry whispered in his ear.

**In New York, Dally blew off steam in gang fights, but here, organized gangs are rarities- there are just small bunches of friends who stick together, and the warfare is between the social classes. A rumble, when it's called, is usually born of a grudge fight, and the opponents just happen to bring their friends along. Oh, there are a few named gangs around, like the River Kings and the Tiber Street Tigers, but here in the Southwest there's no gang rivalry. So Dally, even though he could get into a good fight sometimes, had no specific thing to hate. No rival gang. Only Socs. And you can't win against them no matter how hard you try, because they've got all the breaks and even whipping them isn't going to change that fact. Maybe that was why Dallas was so bitter.**

"You got that right! We ain't ever gonna win against these damn socs!" everyone said, but secretly inside, they all knew one, they will.

**He had quite a reputation. They have a file on him down at the police station. He had been arrested, he got drunk, he rode in rodeos, lied, cheated, stole, rolled drunks, jumped small kids- he did everything. I didn't like him, but he was smart and you had to respect him.**

Darry pointed an authority finger at Pony and said "Pony, you didn't have to respect him, but he helped you out when you got jumped, but I'm still pissed at him so it don't matter to me." "Why you mad at him?" "WHY?! Maybe because he hid you and Johnny from us for a week! That's why!" Ponyboy just made a small noise in his throat and looked away.

**Johnny Cade was last and least. If you can picture a little dark puppy that has been kicked too many times and is lost in a crowd of strangers, you'll have Johnny. He was the youngest, next to me, smaller than the rest, with a slight build. He had big black eyes in a dark tanned face; his hair was jet-black and heavily greased and combed to the side, but it was so long that it fell in shaggy bangs across his forehead. He had a nervous, suspicious look in his eyes, and that beating he got from the Socs didn't help matters. He was the gang's pet, everyone's kid brother. His father was always beating him up, and his mother ignored him, except when she was hacked off at something, and then you could hear her yelling at him clear down at our house. I think he hated that worse than getting whipped. He would have run away a million times if we hadn't been there. If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.**

Pony got up and just left without a word, but if you looked closely you could see he was starting to cry. Soda stopped reading and looked up and said "I got this." And followed Pony to their room, and sat on the bed with him. "Hey Pone.. Whats the matter?" He knew but he didn't know what else to say. Pony looked up "I-I just really miss him… ya dig?" He said between sniffling. Soda held his brother while whispering "I know little brother.. I know.. But you gotta be strong for us, okay?" Pony nodded. They headed back out and Ponyboy sat back down. Everyone looked like Soda was going to say the whole conversation right there. "its all fine now." Wass all he said before picking up the book and reading again.

**I wiped my eyes hurriedly. "Didya catch 'em?"**

**"Nup. They got away this time, the dirty..." Two-Bit went on cheerfully, calling the Socs every name he could think of or make up.**

**"The kid's okay?"**

**"I'm okay." I tried to think of something to say. I'm usually pretty quiet around people, even the gang. I changed the subject. "I didn't know you were out of the cooler yet, Dally."**

**"Good behavior. Got off early." Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny. Everyone sat down to have a smoke and relax. A smoke always lessens the tension. I had quit trembling and my color was back. The cigarette was calming me down. Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-lookin' bruise you got there, kid."**

Darry smacked Two-bit, which made Ponyboy laugh and Two-bit to learn his lesson not to encourage the kid in to that stuff.

**I touched my cheek gingerly. "Really?"**

**Two-Bit nodded sagely. "Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."**

**Tough and tuff are two different words. Tough is the same as rough; tuff means cool, sharp- like a tuff-looking Mustang or a tuff record. In our neighborhood both are compliments.**

"Well… I rather be called tuff Pony…" "Shut it Two-bit" Pony scowled

**Steve flicked his ashes at me. "What were you doin', walkin' by your lonesome?" Leave it to good old Steve to bring up something like that.**

**"I was comin' home from the movies. I didn't think..."**

**"You don't ever think," Darry broke in, "not at home or anywhere when it counts. You must think at school, with all those good grades you bring home, and you've always got your nose in a book, but do you ever use your head for common sense? No sirree, bub. And if you did have to go by yourself, you should have carried a blade."**

Darry winced at his earlier words, he didn't mean to make them sound so harsh.. From Pony's view he would hate him too. It was cruel! "Pony…' That's all he could think of to say. But the pleading look in Darry's eyes, Pony just couldn't stay mad at his brother. "Darry" he sighed "Its fine.. Really" "No Pony it isn't I'll talk with you later about everything later, I promise little buddy." Pony just smiled.

**I just stared at the hole in the toe of my tennis shoe. Me and Darry just didn't dig each other. I never could please him. He would have hollered at me for carrying a blade if I had carried one. If I brought home B's, he wanted A's, and if I got A's, he wanted to make sure they stayed A's. If I was playing football, I should be in studying, and if I was reading, I should be out playing football. He never hollered at Sodapop- not even when Soda dropped out of school or got tickets for speeding. He just hollered at me.**

Darry just felt ashamed, he didn't notice it. He really loved Pony a lot.

**Soda was glaring at him. "Leave my kid brother alone, you hear? It ain't his fault he likes to go to the movies, and it ain't his fault the Socs like to jump us, and if he had been carrying a blade it would have been a good excuse to cut him to ribbons."**

"Soda.. You love the kid to much.." Two-bit spoke. "the kid gets babied, treat him like a greaser man!" Soda only grabbed his brother and hugged him "never!" Ponyboy swatted him away and laughing.

**Soda always takes up for me.**

**Darry said impatiently, "When I want my kid brother to tell me what to do with my other kid brother, I'll ask you- kid brother." But he laid off me. He always does when Sodapop tells him to. Most of the time.**

**"**Wow! Darry such a clever thing to say…?" Steve said trying not to laugh. "Ay you better watch it randle. I wouldn't mess with me, you'll end up on the floor" Darry said cooly.

**"Next time get one of us to go with you, Ponyboy," Two-Bit said. "Any of us will."**

**"Speakin' of movies"- Dally yawned, flipping away his cigarette butt- "I'm walkin' over to the Nightly Double tomorrow night. Anybody want to come and hunt some action?"**

**Steve shook his head. "Me and Soda are pickin' up Evie and Sandy for the game."**

**He didn't need to look at me the way he did right then. I wasn't going to ask if I could come. I'd never tell Soda, because he really likes Steve a lot, but sometimes I can't stand Steve Randle. I mean it. Sometimes I hate him.**

Sodapop just looked down, he still didn't understand how he didn't see this! "Did you guys know this?!" He shouted impatiently at his friends "Well yeah.. It was hard not too." Darry said, Two-bit nodded. "Yeah Soda how have you _not_ noticed?" Two-bit asked, but Soda just ignored him and kept reading.

**Darry sighed, just like I knew he would. Darry never had time to do anything anymore. "I'm working tomorrow night."**

**Dally looked at the rest of us. "How about y'all? Two-Bit? Johnnycake, you and Pony wanta come?"**

**"Me and Johnny'll come," I said. I knew Johnny wouldn't open his mouth unless he was forced to. "Okay, Darry?"**

**"Yeah, since it ain't a school night." Darry was real good about letting me go places on the weekends. On school nights I could hardly leave the house.**

**"I was plannin' on getting boozed up tomorrow night," Two-Bit said. "If I don't, I'll walk over and find y'all."**

**Steve was looking at Dally's hand. His ring, which he had rolled a drunk senior to get, was back on his finger. "You break up with Sylvia again?"**

**"Yeah, and this time it's for good. That little broad was two-timin' me again while I was in jail."**

**I thought of Sylvia and Evie and Sandy and Two-Bit's many blondes. They were the only kind of girls that would look at us, I thought. Tough, loud girls who wore too much eye makeup and giggled and swore too much. I liked Soda's girl Sandy just fine, though. Her hair was natural blond and her laugh was soft, like her china-blue eyes. She didn't have a real good home or anything and was our kind- greaser- but she was a real nice girl.**

"Yeah real nice.." Sodapop mumbled "Hey buddy its okay, your better off without her!" steve said trying to comfort his best buddy.

** Still, lots of times I wondered what other girls were like. The girls who were bright-eyed and had their dresses a decent length and acted as if they'd like to spit on us if given a chance.**

'But he is good enough to get any girl he wants! This is not okay that he thinks so lowly of himself! He's such a great kid.' Darry thought to himself, Sodapop thought the same. And it was true, Pony was loved by many. "Pony those girls are squares! Borning! Nothing exciting! You ain't missin out on anything!' Two-bit laughed while getting a beer Pony's face reddened.

** Some were afraid of us, and remembering Dallas Winston, I didn't blame them. But most looked at us like we were dirt- gave us the same kind of look that the Socs did when they came by in their Mustangs and Corvettes and yelled "Grease!" at us. I wondered about them. The girls, I mean... Did they cry when their boys were arrested, like Evie did when Steve got hauled in, or did they run out on them the way Sylvia did Dallas? But maybe their boys didn't get arrested or beaten up or busted up in rodeos.**

**I was still thinking about it while I was doing my homework that night. I had to read Great Expectations for English, and that kid Pip, he reminded me of us- the way he felt marked lousy because he wasn't a gentleman or anything, and the way that girl kept looking down on him. That happened to me once. One time in biology I had to dissect a worm, and the razor wouldn't cut, so I used my switchblade. The minute I flicked it out- I forgot what I was doing or I would never have done it- this girl right beside me kind of gasped, and said, "They are right. You are a hood." That didn't make me feel so hot. These were a lot of Socs in that class- I get put into A classes because I'm supposed to be smart- and most of them thought it was pretty funny. I didn't, though. She was a cute girl. She looked real good in yellow.**

**"**EXCUSE ME?! You took you're blade out in school!? Don't ya think?!" "I—Well- see…-" Pony trailed off not really knowing what to say

**We deserve a lot of our trouble, I thought. Dallas deserves everything he gets, and should get worse, if you want the truth. And Two-Bit- he doesn't really want or need half the things he swipes from stores. He just thinks it's fun to swipe everything that isn't nailed down.**

"Hey! I do need this stuff! It comes in handy when I do stuff…' Two-bit said while pulling junk from his pockets, "Two-bit… Buddy you're to lazy to do _anything_ that you might need these things of crap!" Sodapop laughed Two-bit just waved his hand in his face, for the only reason is, he was to lazy to respond. The gang just laughed.

** I can understand why Sodapop and Steve get into drag races and fights so much, though- both of them have too much energy, too much feeling, with no way to blow it off.**

Of course both greasers got up and high fived each other yelling "Hell yeah!" like twelve year olds, smiling big.

**"Rub harder, Soda," I heard Darry mumbling. "You're gonna put me to sleep."**

**I looked through the door. Sodapop was giving Darry a back-rub. Darry is always pulling muscles; he roofs houses and he's always trying to carry two bundles of roofing up the ladder. I knew Soda would put him to sleep, because Soda can put about anyone out when he sets his head to it. He thought Darry worked too hard anyway. I did, too.**

Darry whispered to Ponyboy "Thanks little buddy, I'll try less." Darry said smiling. "You too Sodapop"

**Darry didn't deserve to work like an old man when he was only twenty. He had been a real popular guy in school; he was captain of the football team and he had been voted Boy of the Year. But we just didn't have the money for him to go to college, even with the athletic scholarship he won. And now he didn't have time between jobs to even think about college. So he never went anywhere and never did anything anymore, except work out at gyms and go skiing with some old friends of his sometimes.**

**I rubbed my cheek where it had turned purple. I had looked in the mirror, and it did make me look tough. But Darry had made me put a Band-Aid on the cut.**

**"**DARRY!" both two-bit and steve yelled "Stop babying the kid! He is fourteen! Not four!" "He is a child you too, he doesn't need to be walking around with a cut on his face."

**I remembered how awful Johnny had looked when he got beaten up. I had just as much right to use the streets as the Socs did, and Johnny had never hurt them. Why did the Socs hate us so much? We left them alone. I nearly went to sleep over my homework trying to figure it out.**

"Pone, don't think about that, your gonna worry yourself sick. You ain't ever gonna find an answer to that question, they don't even know the answer." Soda spoke with concern creping into his voice.

**Sodapop, who had jumped into bed by this time, yelled sleepily for me to turn off the light and get to bed. When I finished the chapter I was on, I did.**

"Soda let Pony do his homework, Pony do you're homework when you get home, you hear me?" "yeah darry.." Pony and Soda said together

**Lying beside Soda, staring at the wall, I kept remem bering the faces of the Socs as they surrounded me, that blue madras shirt the blond was wearing, and I could still hear a thick voice: "Need a haircut, greaser?" I shivered.**

**"You cold, Ponyboy?"**

**"A little;" I lied. Soda threw one arm across my neck. He mumbled something drowsily. "Listen, kiddo, when Darry hollers at you... he don't mean nothin'. He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious... you dig, Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy. It's just because you're the baby- I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?"**

"yes! Yes! YES! I do love you! And you are my baby, you need to understand that Pony.." Darry said "I do… I _guess_" Pony mumbled lowly.

**"Sure," I said, trying for Soda's sake to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.**

**"Soda?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"How come you dropped out?" I never have gotten over that. I could hardly stand it when he left school.**

**" 'Cause I'm dumb. The only things I was passing anyway were auto mechanics and gym."**

**"You're not dumb."**

**"Yeah, I am. Shut up and I'll tell you something. Don't tell Darry, though."**

"Soda, your not dumb! Your smart just not in textbook ways" Ponyboy said. Soda smiled at his little brothers words. "Hey pony I didn't mean for you to get upset when I dropped out..I'm sorry.." "O shoot soda! Ain't nothing can be done now!"

**"Okay."**

**"I think I'm gonna marry Sandy. After she gets out of school and I get a better job and everything. I might wait till you get out of school, though. So I can still help Darry with the bills and stuff."**

**"Tuff enough. Wait till I get out, though, so you can keep Darry off my back."**

**"Don't be like that, kid. I told you he don't mean half of what he says..."**

**"You in love with Sandy? What's it like?"**

**"Hhhmmm." He sighed happily. "It's real nice."**

**In a moment his breathing was light and regular. I turned my head to look at him and in the moonlight he looked like some Greek god come to earth.**

_"Greek god?!_ Really pony! Come on! You treat darry like this, and then you call Soda a _'greek god'?!_ REALLY?!" Steve said, truth me told though he was getting jealous of all the compliments that was givin to his friend.

** I wondered how he could stand being so handsome. Then I sighed. I didn't quite get what he meant about Darry. Darry thought I was just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at. Darry love me? I thought of those hard, pale eyes. Soda was wrong for once, I thought. Darry doesn't love anyone or anything, except maybe Soda. I didn't hardly think of him as being human. I don't care, I lied to myself, I don't care about him either. Soda's enough, and I'd have him until I got out of school. I don't care about Darry. But I was still lying and I knew it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.**

Darry now felt awkward… So did Pony too though, the talk was coming. Soda put the book down "Okay! End of chapter one!" "Okay good, hey Pone you ready for the talk?" "Yeah I guess so…" Drry led Pony into his room and sat down next to his little brother.

(**IN DARRYS ROOM)**

They sat there for a second in awkward silence, "look darry, I honestly am sorry for all the mean things I said to you.." "I know Pony, I know we didn't get long to great before, All I care about is now though. Be honest.. Do you still hate me?" Pony just squeezed his big brother "O Darry! I could never hate you! I was lying to myself!" Darry hugged backed, and they jus sat there for minutes hugging.

"Okay also, please do cry in front of me! I need to know when your upset, so I can fix it! Okay little buddy?" Darry erred for an answer. " Yes Darry, I understand.. But I warn you, its only going to get worse.."

**(BACK WITH THE GANG)**

"Hey guys.." Pony shyly said. "Hey pone, come sit down next to me." Soda patted the couch, Pony slowly walked over, before sitting down he announced "Guys, please remember it will only get worse… for everyone." The gang slowly nodded. Just then Darry walked out, clapping loudly "Okay! Lets eat, shall we? Then of course we will continue the book, kay Pone?" He said looking at his brother. "Yeah, sure dar." Then Darry announced "I will read next chapter." "okay man" Steve said.

**Please understand, it takes a while to type this much, so please do be patient! Thanks!**

**-Abigail(: **


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